Han calls Democratic Party's push for parliamentary probe of chief justice 'collapse of democratic republic'

On conservative alliance: 'Not personal ties, but shared cause'

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon holds a press conference at Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly on Friday, addressing allegations that he suppressed an investigation into his daughter's fabricated credentials during his tenure as justice minister. [Yonhap]
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon holds a press conference at Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly on Friday, addressing allegations that he suppressed an investigation into his daughter's fabricated credentials during his tenure as justice minister. [Yonhap]

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Friday pushed back against allegations that he suppressed an investigation into his daughter's fabricated credentials while serving as justice minister, saying those behind the claims "know they are going after an innocent person, but are doing it to inflict pain in the process — and they are saying so themselves."

Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly, Han said the campaign amounted to political persecution. "This is a form of torture," Han said. "Because I have been effectively attacking the Democratic Party, they are manipulating investigative agencies like issuing orders, trying to grab me by the ankle."

Han also took aim at the Democratic Party of Korea's push for a parliamentary investigation into Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae. "If you ask 10 people what Jo did wrong, you will get 10 different answers," Han said. "There is only one thing Jo is accused of — not protecting Lee Jae Myung as an individual." Han added that while failing to protect Lee was itself being treated as a problem, protecting Lee would have been equally wrong. "Subjecting a chief justice to what amounts to a lynch mob through a parliamentary investigation and special prosecutor would be the collapse of the democratic republic," Han said.

Han went on to say that such brazen conduct would erode public trust in the system itself. "If people no longer trust the system, and there is no system that respects judicial decisions, this country is not an advanced nation," Han said. "The Lee Jae Myung administration is turning this country into a backward one."

On the question of an alliance with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Han said any coalition for the public good must be built on shared cause, not personal ties. "Anyone who agrees with the cause of stopping the runaway Lee Jae Myung Democratic Party administration and defending and advancing this country's democratic republic must join together," Han said.

Han said the situation was unprecedented. "The Lee Jae Myung Democratic Party administration is openly, in broad daylight, dismantling the democratic republic — the very goal enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea as something that can never be changed," Han said. "This is not the time for idle talk about who is close to whom."

However, when asked whether PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok and Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok were also potential partners in such an alliance, Han declined to name anyone specifically. "I have no desire to peer into the inner thoughts of individual people," Han said. "Their actions will show it."

Han added that all those who share the cause and act accordingly must stand together. "We must defend the democratic republic of the Republic of Korea," Han said.


mp1256@heraldcorp.com